Red ✔

Clues

When I am tiredly walking downstairs to the dining room, Alex is acting very odd. He gives the bigger piece of chocolate cake Dad brought from Metro. Also, he packs my bag for me without me lazily requesting for him to do it. He even picks an outfit, which is not too bad, and carries my backpack for me, too.

"Alex, why are doing this?" I demand, skeptical.

"Don't you know?" he says.

What he says puzzled me. Am I supposed to know? Is there something I forgot? Is it Be Nice Day? I have not written that down in my calendar.

"I do not have a clue."

"Good grief."

As I arrive at my regular bus stop, Holly is just as odd. She comments on my shirt.

"Is that a new top?" she gushes.

I peer down at my new emerald-coloured halter top. "Yes...?" I reply with a tint of confusion in my voice.

"I love it," she remarks. "It really brings out your eyes."

She is acting weird, too. She barely ever notices when I wear new clothes...or notices anything for that matter. The only time she notices if I wear a clown suit. One time, in Grade Seven, I hide her lucky charm bracelet in the very front of the inside of her desk, as a joke. She consistently checks there, but she claims that she cannot find it. I finally show her and she is like, "Oh, how could I have not looked there?"

I told her, "But you did...like a hundred times."

Holly and I climb onto the bus. We sit on the back seats.

"What's up?" I ask her, giving her a wary look.

"What do you mean?" she says dumbly.

I am not convinced. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" her voice sounds like she does not remember that she commented on my new top.

"Like noticing my top. You never once noticed my new tops before, unless I am wearing rainbow tights and a big red nose."

"Are you saying I will only notice your new outfit if you are a clown?'

"That is exactly what I am saying!" I stand up from my seat, frustrated.

I wobble severely when the bus starts moving.

"Hey, kid, sit down," orders the bus driver, glaring at me from his rear mirror.

I quickly get onto my seat. When the bus ceases in front of Nicole's stop, she scoots beside me happily.

"Hey, my funny friend!" she greets me.

So far normal.

"Like my outfit?" She gestures toward her outfit.

She is wearing a plum purple halter top with a shiny black belt and stretchy black tights. I look down at her feet, where I find a nice pair of fuzzy purple pumps. Her accessories match with her outfit, like her glossy black bracelet and purple hoops hanging over her shoulders. Oh. My. Gosh! Nicole Young matches her clothes on her own, for the first time in history!

"What's up with you two? Am I missing something here?" I eye them with uncertainty.

They exchange glances and burst into laughter.

"What is so funny?" I demand, baffled by their reaction.

"Don't you remember? It is your—" Nicole claps her hands over Holly's mouth.

"It is nothing." Nicole smiles from ear-to-ear.

I observe them doubtfully. I am going to find out what they are hiding from me. I always do because they are terrible at keeping their mouths shut. I put on my invisible detectives hat on and coat. I attain my invisible magnified glass. Time to search for clues.